India has the distinction of being one of the largest producers of films. The Telugu film
industry is the second largest in India, sometimes producing more number of films than the
Hindi film industry. However, there has been a serious dearth of ‘good cinema’, as
evidenced by the absence of National Awards in the Telugu language category over the last
several years.
The analysis in this article is based on the assumption that alternative perspectives
find space even within the capitalist mode of production when contradictory pressures of
class interests operate. In the cultural industries, the intellectuals—both bourgeois and
progressive—are jostling for space. In this struggle, there are class contradictions
within the cultural industries, which enable the progressive intellectual to play a
visible role, even though it is not a dominant one. The near complete absence of such
spaces and processes is the subject of this analysis.
This article examines the practices within the Telugu film industry and attempts to
identify the barriers to creativity and new talent using Marxian analysis. The study comes
to the broad conclusion that given the social totality of Telugu society, a better
regulatory environment could make a difference.
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